It's Just That Simple

If you ask my Mother and Father, they will say that becoming vegetarians collectively as a family when I was 7 years old was my brother’s idea. This should not surprise me, as my younger brother has always been quite the little dictator. But, if I have the details correct, a once 5 year old swayed my parents into becoming vegetarians…he really should have ran for President, what a shame.

Although there must be a bit more to this story than I am aware of, I can say for certain that growing up in the Ocean State guaranteed the continuation of our seafood consumption. This I am thankful for, as my childhood summers would not have been nearly as fun without the memories of eating clam cakes and chowder on the rocks at Galilee. Regardless of who is to “blame” for my vegetarianism, I am now the lone vege of the family, as one by one the others kicked the habit. Keeping this whole shenanigan up into my adulthood has been my choice, which leads many people to ask the question, why?

I guess now that I am in my mid twenties, people have realized it was not just a phase and are baffled that I have chosen to forgo meat permanently. Beyond basic inquisitiveness, the topic of eating meat has become ever more popular, stirring people’s curiosities even more. Many want to know my views on the subject however this is the cause of a great personal dilemma. Though I have many a good reason for choosing the route of an herbivore, most of the carnivores asking do not truly care to understand my position on the subject. Furthermore, I have zero interest in neither educating nor converting anyone. Bottom line, when it comes to food, people can be easily offended and there is no one less interested in offending a meat eater than I.

Throw away all of my motives for leaving meat off my plate and what I find is that being a vegetarian is simply my preference, no explanation needed, it just makes me happy.

Feathered Friends

Soon after I was hired as G’s nanny, her mother informed me that the only other woman interviewed for the job was also a vegetarian. Thank goodness I did not divulge too much information during my own interview, as both G’s parents felt it was strange when the woman expressed she would be uncomfortable cutting up a whole roasted chicken. I remember just laughing it off like, “oh yeah, what a crazy person, aren’t you glad you hired me”, while silently starting to panic. I can only imagine myself standing at the kitchen counter starring down at a dead headless chicken, cleaver in hand and cutting it up into little pieces. Where on earth, or on bird for that matter, would I even begin? I am pretty sure by now, nearly two years later, they have caught on and would not ask this of me however, if they ever do, hopefully for everyone’s sake, including the chicken's, I have access to Google somewhere very close by.

So if I’m not roasting up whole chickens, what exactly am I cooking? My most recent endeavor was Turkey Enchiladas. Although G is not a huge zucchini nor pepper fan, I thought I would give this one a try. I should have known the tortilla would be her favorite part of the dish, good thing I bought whole wheat! Just as a side note, I have to say that I am much more comfortable cooking poultry than any other type of meat. I guess it comes from familiarity as I for a short time during my high school and college years ate chicken and turkey. Although I found the Turkey Enchilada recipe in a children’s cookbook, it is just as appropriate for big kids. It would also be super easy to make these enchiladas vegetarian by replacing the turkey with more vegetables or beans and cheese.

Turkey Enchiladas

Adapted from:

First Meals
By Annabel Karmel

Sauce:
Heat olive oil and sauté 1 onion and 1 garlic clove for 5 min. Add tomato puree and 1 tsp fresh oregano, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.

Turkey Filling:
Heat olive oil and 1 garlic clove, 1 red onion, 1 red pepper, and 1 zucchini. Cook for 5 minutes before adding turkey. Cook through for 7-8 minutes and add salt and pepper. Stir in ¾ cup grated cheddar cheese until melted.

Divide filling into 8 flour tortillas, roll into a cigar shape, place in an ovenproof dish and cover with tomato sauce. Top with ¾ cup cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. And voila…turkey enchiladas!